


Too Good to Be True

by AideStar



Series: Linked Universe Fics [22]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Character Death, Depressing, Heavy Angst, Horror, Hurt No Comfort, Introspection, Kinda, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Not Really Character Death, Sad Ending, The rest of the boys are there, Wars' games aren't canon and Leg knows, it was all a dream, shadow and marin are implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25243540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AideStar/pseuds/AideStar
Summary: Something wasn’t right about Warriors’ Hyrule. Legend didn’t want to find out what it was.He feared he already knew.---Warriors' games aren't canon, and all dreams must come to an end.
Relationships: Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe), implied past Marin/Link
Series: Linked Universe Fics [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758937
Comments: 46
Kudos: 190





	Too Good to Be True

**Author's Note:**

> I've been waiting to post this fic for weeks. It's heavy and sad and explores a really interesting headcanon from the discord surrounding Wars' games. I added a lot to it and had some fun with the angst. I've been busy writing some stuff that I can't post yet so expect new work just at a slower pace :)  
> If you enjoy my work please leave a comment or kudos, they make my day! <3

Legend did not like Warriors. It wasn’t _hate,_ but it was annoyance--constant irritation buzzing under his skin each time he heard that perfect voice, each time the man flipped his meticulously kept hair. Well, he called it annoyance, irritation, anger. In reality, Legend hadn’t liked Warriors before he’d even laid eyes on the captain, and for reasons entirely out of his control.

The first time Legend had traveled to Warriors’ Hyrule, Time and Twilight by his side and in the first few days of their quest, Legend had felt a pit drop in his stomach. The towns were flawless, the people happy, nature flourishing as if there weren’t still churned battlefields on the outskirts of town. Unnerving, unsettling. He knew the others felt the unease, prickling at the back of their neck, screaming at them not to trust such innocence. Time and Twilight didn’t speak it aloud, their shoulders stiff and eyes scanning cautiously, but Legend wasn’t above complaining. And he would have, groaning and making a fuss to hide the fear that threatened to send him stumbling, if he hadn’t caught a flash of red hair and hibiscus flowers in the corner of his vision.

Legend had frozen in place, head snapping towards the sight.

But there was no one there, just a soft gust of wind, tinted with the haunting scent of the sea.

The sparkling chime of a bell, drifting from no discernible direction.

His chest had clenched tight, painful, cutting off his breath in a gasp.

Impossible.

Then a hand clenched around his shoulder, too tight, bringing him back to reality where he stood frozen in the bustling street. Time had fixed him with a knowing, wary look. _Are you alright?_ it asked. No, he wasn’t alright, but he had nodded all the same and forced his heavy feet to walk on.

He would take her memory to the grave. This changed nothing.

It wasn’t real.

So of course, when the three finally met the hero of this world, Legend was less than pleased. The guilt had been overturned once again in his mind, fresh and throbbing, along with the unease locking up his joints and the fear clogging his senses. He’d scoffed at the hand offered to shake, turned up his nose and glared at his single greatest fear rather than face it. Thus began the often less-than-friendly relationship between the two heroes, and thus it would close the same as it began.

Legend, staring at an offered hand, frozen by fear.

\---

“Has anyone else noticed how odd Warriors’ Hyrule is?”

The question came out of the blue, spoken off-hand as Four sat by Legend’s feet, sharpening his sword and looking for all the world as if he were simply making small talk. The flint in his eye, the set of his shoulders betrayed his unease.

“What do you mean? I’ve been there a ton and never noticed anything weird.” Wind replied, fiddling with his telescope as he prepared to stargaze. “I mean, besides the interdimensional war stuff, that is.”

“That sounds pretty odd to me, not to be rude.” Hyrule hummed, curiosity overpowering his nervousness. “I mean, how’d you even end up there in the first place?”

“I—“ Wind blinked, furrowing his brow. “I guess I just woke up one morning and found myself in Wars’ time. It’s not the strangest thing to happen to me, though, that’s for sure.”

_You just woke up there?_ Legend wanted to press. _You were on your ship one moment and somewhere entirely different the next?_

He bit his tongue.

“Maybe you’re right.” Four sighed, sliding the blade against his whetstone with a final flourish. Hiding his own unease with disinterest. “I just… thought I saw someone I knew the last time we visited.”

“We’ve met other versions of Impa and Zelda _and_ each other. Hell, Wild even has a Beedle of his own. I wouldn’t put it past the Goddesses to reincarnate other people too.” Wind commented, off hand, peering through his scope with his tongue sticking out.

Four inspected the blade, stiff, silent. Legend’s hands balled into fists as he looked away, knowing, familiar guilt and fear seeping into his bones.

“Maybe you’re right.” Four sighed. Legend could hear the weight of his tone, the lie dropping to the ground like a stone. Wind didn’t notice but Legend saw the grief he felt mirrored in Four’s gaze as he stared down at his flickering shadow.

Something wasn’t right about Warriors’ Hyrule. Legend didn’t want to find out what it was.

He feared he already knew.

\---

The sun rose on a new day, and a new Hyrule. The group of heroes woke with a dull, insistent throb at the back of their head, pulling at their weary bones. They all groaned, further annoyed as they realized they were in a foreign woods. All except Warriors, who appeared perfectly fine, perfectly happy as he declared this to be his home.

Legend felt dread well up in his stomach. He didn’t eat that morning.

He walked at the back of the group, unease making his shoulders hunch towards his ears. Warriors led the pack with a confident smile, steps sure, but Four kept shooting glances into the woods, rubbing his arms warily. Legend felt the prickling of eyes on him from the darkness and soldiered on, ignoring every instinct that _screamed_ to run, to hide, to—

They spotted Castle Town on the horizon, rising on a perfect grassy hill with its perfect houses and perfect spires. Legend’s stomach twisted into knots. The sun was well overhead by the time they left the winding paths of the forest, beating down warmly on their heads as a gentle breeze blew across Hyrule Field. Too calm, too serene, Legend’s mind didn’t trust it— _no, he’s being stupid, not everything is a bad omen._ He watched his feet instead, counting each step to fill his mind, to distract from the anxiety that plagued him, that made him resent Warriors so. He didn’t realize they’d entered town until Warriors’ voice, unusually soft, broke him out of his reverie.

“Where is everyone?” Warriors asked, just a touch of unease in his tone, but shocking enough. Warriors never showed his fear, but Legend watched as the Captain peered around town with flitting eyes.

“Maybe there’s an event at the castle?” Wind offered, ever the optimist.

Legend looked around, chest squeezing tightly, pain kicking his panic to life once more. The town was empty. Not abandoned, no, _empty_. Windows were open, blinds stirring in the calm breeze. Laundry hung out to dry, flowers glittered with dew in their pots. The only sound was the scuffle of their boots across cobblestone paths, the wind blowing softly through chimes on porches. Eerie, unsettling.

Legend heard a crunch under his boot and looked down, heart stilling it’s rapid beat as dread froze it in place. A hibiscus flower, half crushed. He crouched down with trembling fingers, feeling as if his knees would give out. There was a sharp gasp ahead and he turned blurred vision to see Four tensed in fear, staring at his feet with wide multicolored eyes.

It took Legend a moment to realize. Four had no shadow.

“I need to get to the castle, there’s something wrong.” Warriors announced, fighting to keep his voice calm despite the way his face paled in fear.

No one argued, tension mounting further with each hurried step towards the towering castle ahead. The doors were ajar, opening further the closer they approached. Warriors broke into a run as a face peeked out, the rest speeding up to maintain pace.

“Link!” A trembling female voice rang out, sending icy tendrils down Legend’s spine. Warriors’ Zelda emerged from the castle walls, stumbling to meet her hero halfway.

“Zelda, what’s happened? Where is everyone, what’s—“ Warriors’ voice tumbled out, trembling, his frightened gaze meeting Zelda’s own. She shook her head, golden hair swaying over tense shoulders.

“I thought you would know!” there were tears in her eyes, hands gasping onto Warriors’ sleeves. “Everyone disappeared, I can’t find them Link, I—“

Warriors moved to place his hands on Zelda, to reassure. His hands met her shoulders.

They passed right through.

And like that, Zelda was gone.

In her place the wind blew, the sun beat down gently, the grass swayed peacefully. Empty. As if she’d never been there to begin with. Warriors stared at his hands, at the point where her face had just been. No one made a sound.

“Well, well, isn’t this an interesting development.” a dark voice chuckled behind them, dragging anger through the thick fear clogging the air.

Legend turned his scowl on Dark Link, drawing his sword with hands made steady by rage he ignited to eviscerate his cloying dread, the same anger he threw at Warriors every day rather than face the horror of reality. Dark stood on the path leading back into town, posture tall and light, blood red eyes drinking in the hero’s fear with delight. His black and grey visage was a smudge against the beautiful and otherworldly landscape.

“What have you _done,_ ” Warriors grit out, blinking back tears, face red. Dark laughed, the sound ringing in Legend’s ears.

“Oh, I’ve done nothing, I assure you,” Dark grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the midday sun. “I’ve simply come to watch the show.”

“What did you do with them? What’s going on?” Warriors shout dripped with anguish, only serving to widen Dark’s smile.

Legend knew. He knew and he didn’t _want_ to know, he never did. The moment he thought it in full, the moment it was spoken aloud, the spell would be broken and there would be no fixing it. No way to mend what is irreparably shattered. No method to piece together something that wasn’t—

“Your world was never real.” Dark laughed, like it was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Legend felt sickness like a wave crash over him. “It was never real, and now it’s coming to an end. It’s time to wake up, _Warriors_ , and stop pretending. You were never a hero.”

Warriors let out a choked, aborted sound in the back of his throat. He took a step back, eyes flitting around, cornered. They landed on the Master Sword strapped to Sky’s back, and Legend could only watch in horror as he leapt forward.

Warriors reached for the hilt, Sky’s eyes widening in shock.

His hand passed right through it.

Dark laughed, doubled over, and Legend could only watch with mounting dread as the town ahead disappeared one house at a time. The shingles folded in on themselves, the flowers crumbled, the cobblestone street picked itself apart in a rolling wave. Each and every perfect house vanished into nothing. The path became overgrown with grass until there wasn’t a trace. The castle behind them, towering and glittering serenely in the sun, faded. Warriors stared at his shaking hands, stared at the slowly unraveling world, Dark’s cackling a sick tune speeding it along.

Within moments the heroes stood in an empty, flat field. The forest was gone, the hills were gone, the town and castle and it’s people were gone. The wind no longer stirred their hair with its gentle sway. The sun froze in the sky overhead, it’s heat gone. Everything was still and silent save for Warriors’ heaving breaths and Dark’s laughter.

In an instant he too was gone, and the heroes were left to their helpless situation.

“Wars—“ Wind reached out, eyes filled with tears, but Time held him back with a haunted look on his face.

“No one touch him,” Time’s voice was flat, sending chills down Legend’s spine. “We don’t want him to disappear too.”

Warriors hugged himself, tears streaming down his cheeks, blue eyes wide and frightened. He peered around, meeting each of his friends eyes, desperate and frightened and—

Warriors’ eyes met Legends, and the dam broke. Legend’s shoulders hitched, a choked sob making its way through gritted teeth.

_Not again, not again, not again_ —

But it was too late. It was already too late _again_ , and maybe if he hadn’t been so selfish, so scared, so filled with grief and hatred he could have done something to prevent it. The first time he was just a foolish child, but now he was an adult and he had a responsibility to protect these people. And he’d failed, again, by his own hand.

Warriors crumpled to his knees, the grass still around him. His hands were translucent, already fading. Still perfect, with a strong jaw and flowing hair and meticulous dress. Unreal, ethereal, dreamlike. Untouched by the horrors of war he was named for.

“You knew, didn’t you.” Warriors whispered, words harsh and cutting through Legend’s grief like a dull knife, slow and agonizing. “Why didn’t you _tell me?_ ”

“I…” _I was afraid, I didn’t want to hurt you, if I told you I knew then everything would end and--_ “I’m sorry…”

It wasn’t enough, it was _never_ enough. It was all he had to give.

Warriors huffed out a small, broken sigh.

“This was fun,” he said, eyes downturned and shoulders hunched. He reached out a hand, shaking, barely there, and Legend resisted the urge to grasp it. To hold on for dear life. Yet another dream he didn’t want to end, fading fast. “I’ll miss you guys.”

Warriors took one, final, shaking breath.

Legend blinked, and he was gone.

Reality came rushing back like a slap of cold water to the face, tearing him up, up, into the waking world despite the heaviness of grief in his heart.

Legend opened his eyes, slowly, blinking in the dappled sunbeams that leaked through the canopy above. Around him the camp bustled with life, laughter, the popping of grease in a wok. Bird song, a gentle breeze, and the echoes of a nightmare buzzed in Legend’s ears. He sat up, a familiar dull ache where his heart laid, a dead stone in his chest. He looked over, across camp where Warriors’ things were the night before, where his blue scarf and perfect hair and meticulously kept items would rest.

There was nothing there.

And Legend was the only one to bear witness to his absence.


End file.
